Purpose of Government – Based on the Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:6. The purpose of Government is to encourage people to do right. What is right and what is wrong is an age-old question, but from a Christian perspective what is right is embodied in the Ten Commandments. Specifically, God gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites as a basis for them to live right. God's covenant in regard to the Ten Commandments is stated in Exodus 20:6 saying, “And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments”. The Israelites would be blessed if they loved God and followed God's commandments.

Nine of these core commandments of God carry over to Christianity (“Remember the sabbath day” is a tradition many Christians follows, but it is not specified in the New Testament) . Additionally, most Governments in one form or another have many of the Ten Commandments as the basis for their laws. The Ten Commandments as stated in Exodus 20 are as follows: